Self-locking gaff



Allg 6 1940- B. E. HARTER 2,210,169

SELF-LOCKING GFF Filed NOV. 17, 1939 @wir l Il i INVENTOR. HAHTW lATTORNEY. f

Patented Aug. 6, 1940 UNITED 'l sTArEs SELF-LOCKING GAFF Byron E.Harter, Farnhamville, Iowa Application November 17, 1939, Serial No.304,926

1 Claim.

The principal object of this invention is to provide a gaff that willautomatically lock after a fish has been hooked, thereby preventing theaccidental loss of the fish after it has been so hooked.

A further object of this invention is to provide a self-locking gaffthat is under the control of the user at all times.

A still further object of. my invention is to provide a self lockinggaff that is economical in manufacture and durable in use.

These and other objects will be apparent to those skilled in the art.

My invention consists in the construction, arrangement and combinationof the various parts of the device, whereby the objects contemplated areattained as hereinafter more fully set forth, pointed out in my claimand illustrated in the accompanying drawing, in which:

Fig. 1 is a side view of my gaff.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged view of the lower portion,

of my gafi taken on line 2-2 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is an enlarged bottom plan view of the rear end portion of thebar latch and more fully illustrates the same. i

The employment of a gaff is essential in the catching of many sh. Thisis especially true when shing from a boat. In the'case of larger fishthe line is too small to lift the fish into the boat. In many instances,the fish will be lost during this procedure unless a gaff is used. Alsoit is dangerous to land a large fish without a.

gaf as the struggles of the fish may throw the plug or hook into thefisherman. The use, therefore, of gaffs is old, but in most instancesIthe gafs vare not vefficient and many fish are lost from them. I haveovercome such objections by a self-locking gaff that securely holds thesh until the fisherman desires the release of the fish from the gaff. l

Referring to the drawing, I have used the numeral I0 to designate thehandle of ymy gaff having the usual metallic hook portion I I. Obviouslythese twoparts of. the gallv are old in the art. I will now describe thefeatures of my gaff that distinguish it from other gafi's. The numeralI2 designates two spaced apart bearing. ears on the hook portion I Ijust below the handle as shown in Fig. 1. These two ears extend in the.direction of the free end portion of the hook portion II. The numeralI3 designates the latch arm formed of. a single piece of sheet metal.The numerals I4 and I5 designate two side flanges o n the rear endportion of the member I3, creating an inverted trough construction atthe rear end of the latch arm, which embraces the two ears I2 as shownin Fig. 3. The numeral I6 designates a pin extending through the ears I2and side flanges I4 and I5. By this arrangement the arm I3 is pivoted atits rear end to the shank of the 5l hook portion II. The latch arm I3may swing downwardly within the hook portion as shown by dotted lines inFig. 1, but is limited in its upward swinging movement by its rear endengaging the shank of the hook portion and its free end engaging theAinner side of the outer end of. the hook. The numeral I1 designates anotch in the rear end. of the latch arm to embrace and vengage thisshank portion of the hook and the numeral I8 designates a notch in thefree end of 415 the latch arm for embracing and engaging this outer endportion of the hook as shown in Fig. 2. Obviously'these notches` I'I andI8 prevent the side or lateral movement of the latch arm relative to thehook portion when the latch arm is 20 in locked position extendingdownwardly and to the left between the shank and free end of the hookportion. This feature providesv great strength when the latch arm is inlocked condition andalso` actstov guide the arm back into proper alignedposition from. an unlocked or downward position. The numeralISdesignates a coil spring embracing the pin I5 having one end engagingthe under side of the latch arm and its other end engaging the shank ofthe hook portion for yieldingly holding the latch arm in an elevatedlocked condition. One end of the spring I9 may be bent around the shankof the hook portion to afford better anchorage as shown in Fig. 3. 35 Touse my gaff, it is merely necessary to hook the sh in the usual manner.The weight of. the fish will move the trigger latch arm I3 downwardlyuntil the fish moves to the extreme lower loop portion of the hook I Iafter which the member I3 will be freed of engagement with the fish andwill automatically by the action of the spring lI9 move upwardly to alocked elevated'pcsition above the hooked fish. Obviously with themember I3 acting as the bar between the shank andy pointed end portionof the hook, the fish cannot become accidentally .detached from thegaff'. With the fish so hooked, it is an easy matter to lift the fishupwardly outV of the water, remove the fish hook, plug, or like from thefish, place the Stringer on the fish, fasten the Stringer if it is notalready fastened and then release the fish from the gaff. The removal ofthe flsh'from the gaff is a simple matter, as it is merely necessary tomanually move and hold the member I9 downl0 its scope.

I claim: K In a device 01. the class described, a handle member, a hookmember extending from said handle, a bar having its rear end hingedlysecured to the shank portion of said hook member, a spring foryieldingly holding said bar in an extended position between the shankportion and free yend portion of said hook member, and a notch formed inthe rear end of said bar capable of. engaging the shank portion of saidhook member When the same is in an extended position between said shankportion of said hook member. 10

BYRON E. HARTER.

